Primary care provider vs family practice doctor

The differences between primary care providers and family practice doctors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a family practice doctor has an average salary of $187,028, which is higher than the $35,422 average annual salary of a primary care provider.

The top three skills for a primary care provider include patients, internal medicine and family practice. The most important skills for a family practice doctor are patients, family medicine, and urgent care.

Primary care provider vs family practice doctor overview

	Primary Care Provider	Family Practice Doctor
Yearly salary	$35,422	$187,028
Hourly rate	$17.03	$89.92
Growth rate	36%	7%
Number of jobs	103,863	32,979
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Doctoral Degree, 35%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	4

What does a primary care provider do?

Primary Care Providers, also known as general practitioners instead of specialists, are doctors trained to be the first point of contact for a patient entering the health care system. They diagnose, treat, and prevent a broad range of injuries and illnesses from allergies and colds to longer-term conditions such as Diabetes Mellitus. Their duties include performing lab tests to identify a condition, prescribing medications, checking for drug interactions, provide wound care, executing spirometry tests and electrocardiograms, and coordinating specialist care for your condition. A Primary Care Provider will also help create self-care plans prescribing a certain diet and recommending exercise routines.

What does a family practice doctor do?

Family practice doctors provide lifelong care for a patient and their family. They offer medical attention to all family members, educates patients on disease prevention, provide health maintenance, and ensure mental and emotional needs are met. They manage basic complaints, like colds or flus, and also treat chronic illnesses, like asthma, diabetes, or degenerative conditions. They provide ongoing personalized care. Doctors must be empathetic, professional, and knowledgeable.

Primary care provider vs family practice doctor salary

Primary care providers and family practice doctors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Primary Care Provider	Family Practice Doctor
Average salary	$35,422	$187,028
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $58,000	Between $101,000 And $345,000
Highest paying City	Santa Rosa, CA	-
Highest paying state	Connecticut	-
Best paying company	AstraZeneca	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between primary care provider and family practice doctor education

There are a few differences between a primary care provider and a family practice doctor in terms of educational background:

	Primary Care Provider	Family Practice Doctor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Doctoral Degree, 35%
Most common major	Nursing	Medicine
Most common college	-	Duke University

Primary care provider vs family practice doctor demographics

Here are the differences between primary care providers' and family practice doctors' demographics:

	Primary Care Provider	Family Practice Doctor
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2%	Male, 34.2% Female, 65.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 9.7% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 19.1% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	13%

Differences between primary care provider and family practice doctor duties and responsibilities

Primary care provider example responsibilities.

Manage provider network to include verifying claims and benefits for healthcare providers/members and insurance companies.
Work alongside ABA therapists to continue to apply appropriate behavioral techniques.
Examine patients and carefully analyze test results and information gather during examinations to properly diagnose illnesses and diseases.
Used strong oral and written communications skills to develop and maintain effective relationships with patients, co-workers and international medical professionals.
Provide caring companionship to developmentally disabled/elderly residents.
Assist with toileting, including bedpans, urinals and commode chairs.

Family practice doctor example responsibilities.

Manage conditions including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypothyroidism, asthma, and GERD.
Provide patients with a clinical diagnosis and provide appropriate follow-up evaluation, with referrals to clinical specialists when deem necessary.
Set up appointments.Billing and coding for emergency procedures (EKG).
Interpret diagnosis results and help in treatment of acute, chronic illnesses.
Advise patients about appropriate lifestyle modifications, preventative medicine, and recommend health screenings.
Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service

Primary care provider vs family practice doctor skills

Common primary care provider skills

Patients, 31%
Internal Medicine, 13%
Family Practice, 12%
Patient Care, 11%
Urgent Care, 10%
NP, 4%

Common family practice doctor skills

Patients, 34%
Family Medicine, 21%
Urgent Care, 8%
Patient Care, 7%
Internal Medicine, 5%
Outpatient Clinic, 3%

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Primary Care Provider vs Family Practice Doctor

Updated January 8, 2025

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